Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN!
Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2018.

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Saturday, July 22, 2017

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- What was the Biggest Surprise you Found About an Ancestor?

It's Saturday Night,

time for more Genealogy Fun!!

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:1) The Family History Hound listed 20 Questions about your Ancestor, and I'm going to use some of them in the next few months. 2) Please answer the question - "What was the biggest surprise you found about an ancestor?"3) Write your own blog post, make a comment on this post, or post your answer on Facebook or Google+. Please leave a link to your answer in comments on this post.My response:My biggest surprise doing research on my ancestors was that Devier James Smith (1839-1894) was adopted by Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith in about 1840 in Jefferson County, New York.I initially found this out when I Googled Devier Smith's names as "Smith Devier" in 2007 using a "last name first" search. I was surprised to see the following on the http://www.rootsweb.com/~wiwaupac/Misc/M1.htm web site: NAME = SMITH, Devier J. [changed from] LAMPHIER, DevierCOUNTY = DodgeSOURCE = PrivDATE = 1866/Mar/21I went to the Wisconsin State Historical Society in 2011 and found the Wisconsin State Senate act that change his name, but there was other supporting information. Then I found his adoptive father's will from 1865 - it says, in part:"Third. I hereby give, devise and bequeath untoDevere J. Lamphear, Commonly called Devere J. Smith, my adopted son, all the rest and residue of my real and personal property of every nameand nature whatsoever, except the above namedLegacy:..."That cinched the deal - it is obvious that Devier J. Lamphier was adopted by Ranslow and Mary (Bell) Smith as a child. When Ranslow Smtih wrote his will in 1865, he had not changed his name yet, and did so soon after his adoptive father's will was written.I had been researching the ancestry of his parents, and had found a significant Hudson River Valley Dutch ancestry for Mary Bell; I had to excise that part of my ancestry and try to find a Lamphier/Lamphear/Lanphere/Lanfear ancestry for Devier. I'm still looking!

Copyright (c) 2017, Randall J. SeaverPlease comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.

8 comments:

My biggest surprise was definitely finding out that my maternal grandmother's grandmother's line (my 2x great grandmother)is a Mayflower line. My grandmother didn't live long enough to know of my discovery, but she would have loved knowing that and, as I noted when I first wrote this post, it only took me 36 years to find it. http://emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2016/08/fones-family-researchers-help/

My biggest shock was learning that my dad's father was not biological. When we did not match his cousins, I first had to find out which of us did not descend from the carefully researched tree I had constructed. It was easy to find matches for them, so that left my dad's father (or perhaps both parents) as the unknown entity. It was a while before I was able to prove that his mother was genetically correct. Then the story began to unfold but with no sound evidence other than logic and my imagination.

Dad's parents were married ten years before he was born, an only child. None of his father's brothers except the youngest had children of their own. Maybe all had suffered mumps at a vulnerable age and were rendered sterile? Dad's mother was savvy. She had been raised by her grandmother who was a mid-wife in Oregon. I believe she concluded that, after ten years of a barren marriage, she would have to have an affair if she wanted any children. And so she did. Now, based primarily on DNA, place and opportunity, I've narrowed down the prospects to two men who share grandparents. One is slightly more probable than the other, and I may never know for certain since the more likely one was a bachelor who disappeared the year my dad was born. The one hope I have is to find a DNA match to either prospect's mother's line.

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About Me

I am a native San Diegan, a graduate of San Diego State University, a retired aerospace engineer, a genealogist and a family guy.
My wife (Angel Linda) and I have two lovely daughters, and five darling grandchildren. We love to visit them and have them visit us.
Angel Linda and I love to travel to visit friends and relatives, to sightsee, to cruise or to do genealogy. Our travels have taken us all over the USA, to England, Down Under and Scandinavia.
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